I did some garden cleaning on Sunday and found a few more pods of beans that I had missed during the spring. Apparently a grand total of three (that I could find) of those lovely scarlet runner flowers had been successfully pollinated (they resulted in the larger, purplish beans). Honestly, that’s more than I was expecting! So I’ll have some second generation beans growing in the garden next year. This time I’ll set my expectations lower for those guys and just think of them as a lovely crimson accent to the garden that may result in a bean or two (or three). They definitely need trellises on the next go, though, they toppled the corn plants I’d hoped would support them!

The dragon’s tongue beans I planted did much better! I’ve only a handful of them dried, but I snacked on quite a few when they were fresh. I think they were too fuzzy for my husband, but that just meant more for me! I look forward to a second generation of them, as well. I think I’ll aim for more plants next time, since the one plant I had this year was low-maintenance and such a good producer.

We’re still working hard on getting the garden into a non-messy, completely usable state. There’s tufts of daikon doing some hard work aerating the soil, and we’ve trimmed back the tomatoes (the plant has decided to be a perennial for the time being) so they don’t succeed in escaping the confines of the side planter. We put them over some not-so-happy garden spots to help feed the worms (very healthy, wiggly worms). We’ve still got a ton of dry patches thanks to spotty sprinkler placement, but that’s on a more long-term to-do list. At this point, I’m not really sure I could handle the whole garden being filled with plants.

We’re working on that, too, though! I sprouted some artichokes (have you ever seen a blooming artichoke flower? It’s going to be hard to pick those before they bloom) and we’ve got a couple of those into the dirt in the side planter. They should grow pretty big, but I don’t think they’re meant to produce for at least a few years. Got to start somewhere!

I’ve also got some really really cute asparagus sprouts that I have to get into their permanent homes soon. Just have to find good places for them. They’re another plant that won’t produce for a few years, but I don’t think they sprawl as much as artichoke. I think they just get tall and stalk-y like corn.

And we’ve got a smattering of leafy greens that we’re trying to grow. Weather is super weird, though, so I might have to put down another round of seed to get a good number of those. I think we’ve got kale, chard, spinach, and cabbage trying to grow. Don’t know which is which, since I’m a disorganized mess, but it will be a fun surprise!

We’re growing a kabocha squash plant that we’ll hopefully get to make some yummy tempura from.

And we’ve got a random butternut squash plant that decided to grow by itself (I didn’t plant it) and has already given us one delicious squash and is still hanging in there and trying to give us more.

We’ve got some happy little onion sprouts growing from some onion sets we purchased at the farm supply store last time we got mulch. Around those I planted a sprinkling of scallions, then watermelon radish, purple carrots, bok choy, and purple-top turnips (I think purple vegetables are gorgeous. The cabbage will be purple, too!) Their little sprouts are starting to pop up, now! I think I picked a good place to put them, they all look very happy. It’s going to be hard to thin them once they’re large enough.

Our volunteer potato plant (probably sprouted up from some kitchen scraps I buried outside for the worms) finished its life and withered away, so I dug it up to see if there were any potatoes. There were, but they were super small and something had already started eating them! I put a couple back in the ground to see if they’ll pop back up next year. The rest I’m leaving out in the sun to see if they’ll sprout. I’m not particularly hopeful.

Our younger kitty loves the garden, too, and was kind enough to sit for a photo shoot out there the other day.

Here’s hoping you’re all having a lovely fall, and that the weather gets a little more predictable soon!

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About This Site

Evelyn LaChance is a pen-name. The girl behind the pen name is a nerdy Cloud Systems Engineer at a tech company with a degree in Mathematics. She has no background in history but wanted to be an egyptologist when she was ten.

She wants to invite you on a journey with her to discover stories of human history through the lens of food. And to help you learn to Eat Your History!